Kekkaku. 2012 Sep;87(9):585-9.
Since 1999, the notification rates among tuberculosis (TB) patients aged 85 years or above in Japan have been consistently higher than those of patients belonging to other age groups. The annual rates of reduction in age-specific TB notifications were similar among elderly patients (defined as those aged 65 years and above) until the mid-1990s; however, since 2000, the reduction rate in patients aged 65-79 years has accelerated. The proportion of elderly TB patients has increased 1.6 times, from 36.8% in 1987 to 59.1% in 2010, and the proportion of TB patients aged 80 years or older has increased 3.8 times, from 7.9% to 29.7% during the same period. The rate of bacteriologically positive TB among pulmonary TB (PTB) patients was higher in the elderly than in patients aged 15-64 years (referred to as "young adults"). The proportion of PTB patients with only non-respiratory symptoms increased with age: 16.2% in patients aged 65-74 years, 20.1% in those aged 75-84 years, and 23.6% in those 85 years and older. The proportion of TB cases in the elderly where patient delay was > or = 2 months was approximately twice less than that in young adults (13.8% vs. 25.9%), whereas the proportion of TB cases in elderly patients where doctor delay was > or = 1 month was slightly higher than that for young adults (24.2% vs. 20.0%). The elderly PTB patients tended to be diagnosed with TB when they were treated as outpatients or inpatients for diseases other than TB. Of the newly notified TB patients in 2009, 27.6% died within a year of initiation of TB treatment; of these, 15.9% died within 3 months. The proportion of deaths within 3 months after the initiation of therapy showed substantial increase with age.
自1999年以来，日本85岁及以上结核病（TB）患者的通报率一直高于其他年龄组的患者。直到20世纪90年代中期，老年患者（定义为65岁及以上）中特定年龄结核病通报的年下降率相似；然而，自2000年以来，65 - 79岁患者的下降率加快。老年结核病患者的比例增加了1.6倍，从1987年的36.8%增至2010年的59.1%，同期80岁及以上结核病患者的比例增加了3.8倍，从7.9%增至29.7%。老年肺结核（PTB）患者中细菌学阳性结核病的比例高于15 - 64岁患者（称为“年轻人”）。仅有非呼吸道症状的PTB患者比例随年龄增长而增加：65 - 74岁患者中为16.2%，75 - 84岁患者中为20.1%，85岁及以上患者中为23.6%。老年结核病患者中患者延误≥2个月的病例比例比年轻人少约一半（13.8%对25.9%），而老年患者中医生延误≥1个月的结核病病例比例略高于年轻人（24.2%对20.0%）。老年PTB患者往往在因非结核病疾病接受门诊或住院治疗时被诊断出患有结核病。在2009年新通报的结核病患者中，27.6%在开始结核病治疗后一年内死亡；其中，15.9%在3个月内死亡。治疗开始后3个月内的死亡比例随年龄大幅增加。
